Month: June 2013

Wednesday was a STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) team day at Duxford, which we managed to book on as a very small group 🙂
We’d been given places on workshops as two twos, so I decided to keep A and 6 together, partly so that I could be with both of them, and K and L together. This fitted with the activities they each wanted to do, so it worked out nicely. The day started with a talk/show presenting the topic of air and the same speaker then went on to do a Science Show session, which L and K had chosen and said was very good. Meanwhile 6, A and I were designing and building bridges from K’Nex, investigating which shapes were strongest and how to incorporate them into a design.
After a short break we all switched groups, K and L to do work with wind tunnels and aerodynamic structures, while 6 and A experimented with acids, alkalis and indicator paper, then made molecules from sweets and cocktail sticks.
We had lunch outside, including sweet molecular structures 🙂 and then walked to the Historic Duxford hut, which we had spent a short time investigating when 6 was first here, but wanted to see properly. It was good and we stayed there for a long time, then meandered back via the hangar where working/flying planes are maintained and finally the gift shop. We’ll be back again in July for a Big Bang session 😀
Thence we went to choir, where Bob joined us to collect A and take her home for Rainbows. 6 and L worked while K sang, then K worked while they sang.

We were very lucky this week to be offered four groundling tickets to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Globe. My initial plan had been to take K, L and 6 with me, but then we realised that K and L needed to be elsewhere (last music school before exams and a choir concert) and that we would have Fortune with us, so plans evolved a little. Accordingly, Saturday morning found Fortune, 6, A and me getting into our Tudor clothes and catching the train to London, where we met up with MDJ and C, the latter also in Tudor garb (MDJ chickened out 😉 ). Sadly, M had decided she had too much to do, so had not come 🙁 The silver lining, however, was that this meant there was a spare ticket for Fortune’s friend, who had only come to say hello and then found herself coming in to see the play too 🙂
It was fab! I had been worried about such a long time standing, but in fact it was part of the experience. A could not see without being held up so I spent most of the performance with her on my hip (Fortune and her friend helped with child carrying too, but I guess I’ve had the most practice 😉 ) and I could certainly feel the after-effects of that later and even more so the next day, but she enjoyed it so much that it was worth every ache 😀 We had read a children’s version of the story on the train, making sure 6 and A knew what was going on, and the production was very lively and visual, which helped, I think, so both 6 and A were able to enjoy the action and the humour without worrying about the difficulty of some of the dialogue. The occasional rather blue joke or action went, fortunately, sailing over their heads 😉 We were well and truly ready for the interval though, and relieved to sit for a while!
After the play we sat and picnicked on the steps outside for a while, discussing what else we could do. MDJ suggested walking back via Postman’s Park, a little church yard he thought we might appreciate, where there is a memorial to heroic self-sacrifice. To get there we crossed the Millennium Bridge (windy!), skirted St Paul’s Cathedral (good place for a pause chocolat) and crossed Paternoster Square (watching people put their small children onto the backs of the sheep for photos – very odd!). We fielded a few questions and comments about our unusual attire, wished we had Kentwell leaflets and gave the website address to a couple of interested people.
Postman’s Park was lovely, a real oasis of calm. We looked at the tablets first, read several out loud and discussed possible circumstances, drollery or sadness, then sat on the grass for a restorative drink and cereal bar. MDJ mentioned that he had found a geocache there once, so the girls were keen to look for it and excited when they did, but it proved to have nothing of much interest so they just wrote in the book and put it back, richer by a two rupee coin donated by Fortune 😉
A little rested we walked on, skirting round a rather cool penny farthing race (and collecting some neat souvenirs on the way) to Farringdon, caught the tube and returned to the station, where MDJ and C were able to catch a slightly earlier train than we were, leaving us just enough time to buy takeaway (noodles and spring rolls) before our train left too.
Lovely day – thank you to Em for tickets and to MDJ, C and Fortune’s friend for company 😀

On Wednesday we went to the Beans’ with lots of sewing. Fortune made a partlet, HH and I hemmed, the children played, chatted and did music theory. It was a lovely relaxed day. A had chosen not to come with us, as she wanted to get to Rainbows easily, so she stayed with Bob (dual parental availability is one big advantage of not working – there has to be a silver lining somewhere, I guess!) and did jobs at home.
We suddenly realised how late it was, so dashed off to choir, dropped K off then made a detour to the music shop to get L’s flute repaired again. I’m a little disappointed with this flute, I must admit. It’s lovely and light, easy to use, sounds good and is reassuringly sturdy – but we’ve been back three times now to get it mended, each time a minor issue and quickly sorted, but nevertheless it is starting to feel as though each time L has a flute lesson she is told to take the flute back for another fix. If it happens again I think we will need to be pushy about asking for a replacement rather than a repair :/ We got back with enough time for a short work session while K’s choir went on, then sent a while in the library before tea.
Girls’ choir was in yet another new venue: St Columba’s this time.

Thursday was E and S and Multisport. It was lovely and sunny, so the class was in the park and those of us waiting decided to sit in a shady corner of the garden and picnic. We played Sherlock – I’d forgotten how good it is; interesting enough to keep adults playing but simple enough for S and A to join in very happily, and great for language learning. We’ve played it several times since, to help 6 learn new words in a fun way 🙂

On Friday J went off to school with a suitcase, for two lessons and then a flight to France. He’s doing a French exchange, but his exchange partner won’t be staying with us; he has a host family rather closer to school. It feels a little odd to be doing something like this with no reciprocity, but a relief too, as it means a whole week with no school runs 😉

On Monday we were meant to be going to a museum for a workshop on Egyptians, but we decided that we would be too tired after our circus trip, performance and then a birthday party ceilidh on the way home. We were right! The day was spent sleeping, recuperating and doing loads of washing.
On Tuesday we had planned to take J in to the station and then go to Gina’s for music lessons, but nobody had the energy or inclination to get up other than those who had to, so Bob took J in and the rest of us went to Gina’s once we’d surfaced and woken up. Piano for K, L and 6, flute for L and a bit of music theory round the edges filled the morning up and then we set off to ‘cello, via the Park and Ride where Fortune was soon to arrive on the bus from Oxford. Unfortunately the bus was a little late, which made for a rushed and slightly short ‘cello lesson for A before we had to leave K there and go on to violin. 6 had her lesson first and is doing really well. Christina says she should definitely carry on, as she is progressing very quickly already – so this is advance warning to you, Rémy and Guillemette, that she will need a next-size-up violin very soon (half size should do the trick) 😉 Then L had her lesson, which she loved as much as always – the worst thing about Kentwell for her is missing three weeks of violin lessons for it!
Brownies and gym in the evening, while A played with her beloved Fortune, and we were all well and truly ready for bed!

Sky Skills was for children aged 8 and over, so A was unable to come. Instead she swapped places with C and got a head start on our next adventure, while I took C to Sky Skills Studios.
Bob and M (and A) went over to Reymerston to set up tents and get established at the Circus Camp we were to attend there. When we eventually arrived (London traffic not great at rush hour!) Bob took J home and the rest of us settled down for a night under canvas. He and J spent the next few days getting J’s room sorted and tidy ready for his exchange student’s arrival next week and making sure homework was all caught up, including missed work from the band weekend. Fortuitously this meant that J’s ticket was available for 6, so she was able to come and do circus skills with K and L. A had opted to be a 3 – 6 and just have fun in the littlies area.
We’d missed the first session, but so had several others, so the second session was more or less a repeat: first of all a demonstration and then a chance to try a few different skills before deciding what specialism to take on. In the end 6 and C went for unicycling, while K and L opted for trapeze (with Em’s E too), all of them on the basis that these were things that would be harder to do elsewhere than juggling, diabolo, poi and so forth. Other possibilities included clowning, tightrope walking, hula hooping, stilts and slackrope walking (which they did in the evenings anyway). Specialisms chosen, they were then expected to focus on getting together a performance for the show on the final day. This meant working fairly solidly for two sessions a day – a total of five hours or more. You can imagine how tired they were by the end of each day! I was particularly impressed with C and 6’s dedication. Unicycling is hard! Lots of falling off, lots of bruises and lots of getting up and trying again. Eventually C decided she had too many bruises and needed to stop, which actually worked out well since Em’s R needed a poi partner, but meant that 6 was now on her own – and still picking herself up and carrying determinedly on. By the time of the performance she was able to travel a few metres by herself and about twice as far with a shoulder to lean on, which may not sound much but is an impressive achievement indeed. Several of the circus performers maintained that they had taken at least a week to get anywhere much on unicycle and the only way to get results is to do as 6 did and just keep trying. I’m told www.unicycles.com is the place to look…
In the evenings there were shorter sessions for the adults. On Thursday Em and I tried hula hooping and both earned ourselves some impressive bruises between thumb and fingers, then on Saturday M and I braved the trapeze, which was hard but fun. It’s now several days later and I can still feel the effects on my arm muscles and have bruises on the backs of my knees! It gave us some appreciation of what the children were doing 🙂
It seemed silly to be so close to where my aunt lives and not visit, so once I’d recovered from dangling upside down on a trapeze we set off, to find that my cousin, his partner and their children were there too, so we had a lovely family time together – dashing back just in time for A to take part in the talent show as part of a (very small) human pyramid.
Sunday, the last day, was spent by the children practising final routines, by A playing with friends and by me striking camp. It all (just!) fitted into one car, which meant Bob didn’t need to come and help 🙂 Much as he’d have liked to have seen the performance, it would have been a long way to come just for that and a few bits of tent!
After lunch was the big moment: the show. It was great! So much effort had gone into each act and nothing went unrewarded. Obviously with only a few days of practice many of the acts were far from impressive, objectively speaking, but each performer was applauded for what they had achieved and those who dropped more balls than they juggled got no less enthusiasm than those who had clearly spent their time taking skills they already had to a higher level. We all loved all of it 🙂
We’re looking forward to next year already!

Some time ago I found a list of free trips for schools, one of which was to Sky Skills Studios. I asked a few friends if they thought it sounded interesting (they did) and then emailed to ask if the sessions were open to HEors as well as to schools. The response I got was very positive – not only were they happy to welcome HE groups but they’d be very grateful to have the word put out that this was the case 🙂
We ended up with a group of 28 children, mostly HE but a few ex-HE or friends/family of HE, which was just about the right number and gave us a nice balanced 7 in each group (oh! the pain of making groups! I agonised for hours to make sure everyone knew someone and each group had people who’d chosen different skills and… it all seemed to work in the end, anyway 🙂 ). We’d been told that 6 adults could go in too, but in the end all the adults who had come were invited to go on the tour and then given a token for tea or coffee and the choice of using the token or staying with the children for the studios part. HH and I decided we’d better stay, while everyone else went off to enjoy some corporate hospitality (and didn’t even bring us a cup of tea – sob!).
It was fab! The tour was interesting – and our group got to brush past Parkinson in the corridor! Sadly I was so busy counting heads and checking we had everyone that I didn’t realise until too late that it was him, but I’m told it definitely was 😉 We saw where programmes are made, including weird spongy rocks, designed to be able to be rolled up and carried from place to place for instant studio dressing, admired a £300k camera, peeked into rooms where editors were busy doing their thing and other rooms where people get to watch sport all day, checking for transmission quality. The highlight of the trip, though, was the work the children did in the studios. We’d chosen Natural Disasters as the topic, so the aim was to produce a report which the groups would write, present, film and edit in four sections. These would then be put together to make one report, a copy of which would be put onto USB drive wristbands for each child to take home and keep. The first group had the task of introducing the topic, the second did a slightly wider report, the third had on-the-spot reporting and interviews with eye-witnesses and the fourth wrapped it up with a discussion of what could be done in future. They were all fab and it was really interesting to see how the different groups worked together and the results they had according to the different approaches the tutors took with them and the dynamics of the groups. Definitely something worth doing again, perhaps in a year or so and with a different topic 🙂

Monday was quiet – lots of catching up on sleep, some catching up on jobs, a fair bit of music practice, quite a lot of unpacking and a small amount of repacking. J was returned to us at about 10 in the evening (thank you, Michelle), ravenously hungry (this seems to be a fairly permanent state just now!) so was fed and sent to bed forthwith.
Tuesday was much the same, but with a little added gym for 6 – the waiting list for normal lessons was too long, but holiday sessions are easier to arrange. Fortunately L’s spare leotard, on the big side for her, proved a good fit. I’m sure 6 has grown since she arrived; there is more of a height difference between them now than there was.